In the case of bottle filling systems, there exist a wide range of solutions for grippers that guide and hold the bottles as they traverse a route through the system. As they do so, the bottles must be partially turned, reliably guided and grasped.
DE 297 13 510 U shows an example of a gripper on a rotational conveyor in which gripper arms are pivotably mounted on a carrier plate. The gripper arms have a compression spring between ends thereof that are opposite the gripper jaws. The compression spring forces these gripper arms into the closing position. In this case, the bottles can be pushed in via entry bevels at the front sides of the gripper arms with compression of the spring, and in turn pulled out again.
These gripper arms eventually wear. And even if they are not worn, it may be necessary to reconfigure the bottle filling system to accommodate different kinds of bottles.
It is therefore desirable to replace these gripper arms as simply and rapidly as possible when wear makes replacement necessary, or when grippers are to be adapted to different bottle neck dimensions. Rapid and simple retrofitting of gripper arms is thus a desirable feature.